Bear Update

 As most of my regular readers know - I am a bear fanatic (as well as a knitting fanatic!).  I haven't posted any bear pics in a long time and thought you should meet a few of them.

This is Maggie.  She was a gift from Auntie Cecile and is named after my paternal grandmother.  She lives in the china cabinet - and there is some glare from the camera - but you can see her.  She loves Easter and is wearing bunny ears!

These two are also in the china cabinet - on a lower shelf.  On the left is Prince Charles - we bought him while we were in the souvenir shop when we visited the Britannia (Queen Elizabeth's personal ship).  On the right is Cecilia

This is Angelica.  She was a present from Aunt Jeannie and has the most beautiful angel wings.  She is always quiet and well-behaved.

And... this is Martha - she teaches the other bears how to keep things tidy, neat and organized.

This trio lives on top of the fridge (where school pics of Munchie and Curtie are displayed for everyone to admire!).  They are (l. to r.) Red, White and Spot.

This is Sebastian.  He loves to snow shoe and is thrilled that we have snow outside now.

Here is Dougie - named after Doug Gilmore - one of my most favourite Toronto Maple Leaf players.

Here is little Colleen - she is tender, caring and loving.  She stays on the dresser beside my bed and keeps watch over me at night.

Some of you may recognize this little guy.  His name is Tim and he comes from Tim Horton's (the donut shop).  With him are Mutt and Jeff - little miniature bears - so cute!

Here we have Hungry (he is from Hungary!) and his guardian angel Maddie.

This display is in the spare bedroom.  The little shelves came from Poppa's Auntie Jean.  It is difficult to see all the little bears - but it is a collection of small decorative bears - some from auction sales, some gifts and some I just liked and bought.  If you look closely, you can see a couple of pictures of very young Munchie!

These two rascals are called Archie and Edith.  Obviously they like to fish.

This is Butterscotch.  He belongs to Munchie, but stays at our place for when we have  a grandson overnight.  The tiger is handknit by Nanna and his name is Stripes.

These are both - you guessed it - Pooh!  The one on the left was bought in England while we were visiting, the one on the right came from Walt Disney World - and got his sweater later.

This is a Big Pooh, he holds the door open in the spare room - and does an excellent job!

This is Cecil and Gracie.  Munchie and Curtie bought Cecil for me.  You might recognize him - he is this year's (2021) Wal-Mart bear and is shown fairly frequently on the television.

These two are Johnnie and Eileen.  Yes - I have two Wal-Mart bears.  Eileen is the mottled beige and the smaller of the two.  She came from Zehr's.  A donation would be made to a children's gift fund for every bear sold.  I'm sure we looked at about 30 of these bears before Poppa found one with a perfect face.  On another day, we were at Wal-Mart, and he bought me Johnnie.  At that time, we didn't know we would get another Wal-Mart bear!  We love them both!!!

I thought these two looked so cute.  They spend each day on my bed.  Furbee (aka Char-Lee) had a nightmare and was quite upset.  Hapster (aka Happy) is being a good big brother and helping Furbee calm down.

Which reminds me - I got a new bed and mattress.  The bed came from Ikea and has drawers underneath - which is wonderful - a girl can't have too many drawers in her bedroom!

Last - but definitely not least....here on the left is Squishie, in the centre little Gracie, and on the right is, or course, Taffy.  They are waiting impatiently for Poppa to come to the table for supper!

This is (again) Taffy and Gracie - I just liked the rear shot of them!  There are a few other bears that I have missed - but these are a large sample of the current critters.  I hope you enjoyed meeting them all.

Latest Knitting Projects

 I am still knitting for the hospital gift shop - but haven't sent anything in a while since COVID is affecting the hours available for the gift shop to be open - and also the staffing there.  So - I have just been knitting and stashing!  But.... I will show you some photos of finished items.

First though - here are Munchie and Curtie.  They visited Canada's Wonderland for the Hallowe'en season.  It looks like fun doesn't it!?!

Okay, now for knitting.  The detail doesn't show up well, but this is rather pretty - I think.

Of course, pink is always nice to knit with!

But, a person has to do blue outfits too!  This is an old pattern that I frequently grab when I'm not sure what to make.  It looks nice in any colour and seems popular.

This is a very old pattern which I have done over and over again.  The picot edge requires more time, but the finished outfit looks so cute.

This is a newer pattern, and reflects the changing styles.

This little "fairy" jacket is for an older child.  I've been anxious to actually make it to see the final result.  What do you think?

Out-of-Town Visitors

Guess who came for a visit !  Annie took this pic of me with both of the girls, with her cell phone.  It was the first time we saw Muffy in 4 (yes, four!) years.  The three of us had lots of giggles and chats while Poppa was golfing - including a lunch at a local restaurant that we all enjoy!  They had a nice visit with Poppa in the evening when he finished his last "dinner day" at the golf course!

While he was relaxing later... Annie took this pic of him in his favourite chair!

I don't remember if I showed you this beautiful picture of the ceiling at Chatsworth - the large residence of the Duchess we visited with David in England.  It was all beyond belief and we still think about that "jolly old" country and the wonderful time we had there!

This is a wide view of the entire residence .... I think I would get lost finding the dining room for breakfast!

On October 10th our "little" Munchie turned 13.  We can't believe he is a teenager now!  He is taller than me and has a deep voice!  He is still adorable!

Mommy, Daddy and the boys recently visited Canada's Wonderland as part of Munchie's birthday celebration.  As you can see, it was all decked out for Hallowe'en!

Can you spot Curtie and Munchie in this photo?

This is just another picture of Munchie and Poppa working on the patio at one of the units in our condo complex... I found a group of pics I had missed.

As you can tell by this photo is was a large job!

And Munchie was a large help to Poppa!

They had to move all these slabs and then re-lay them.

And...as promised...here is the shot of Munchie with the wheelbarrel.  He took it to the end of the property, filled it with soil, and brought it back so they could fill in the low spots.

This is a blanket I finished recently.

This is an old picture of Poppa with the two boys when they were about 3 years and 1 year respectively.  Time flies!

All this reminiscing made Squishie tired and he stopped for a rest!

 

Another Helper!

The next project to get underway was our front walkway...and this time Poppa had a new helper!

Did you guess who?  Well...no wonder.... it isn't a very good picture!  But, that is Curtie working diligently to prepare the edges for the new walkway that Poppa is working on!  This is a large plastic bag that was full of limestone screening for levelling and now it is almost empty!

They worked long and hard, carrying cement walkway slabs and levelling them all once they had them laid.

Like Munchie, by the end of the day Curtie was worn out and fell asleep on the couch.

But they did a fantastic job... it took a lot of time to plan it out.

While Curtie was still laying stones down, Poppa was busy planning the next step in the process.

Then they both got busy working on the edges to level and straighten.

I was a long job - but they wanted it to be perfect!

Every so often, Curtie would take a break and watch Poppa.

As you can see, it is starting to look pretty good!

By the time they got finished, it was dark outside and Poppa hooked up this light so they could see.  Doesn't it look lovely?  I'll post a better (daylight) picture soon.